in and out of
- phrasal verb
- She's in and out of hospitals all the time.
- move in and out of
- drift in and out of
- in and out of government
His mom was in and out of penal institutions.
- His mom was in and out of penal institutions.
- And so you can drop in and out of that as a child.
- Her Mama was in and out of jail in Texas.
- People are moving more freely in and out of Mexico now.
- I I don't know, they keep popping in and out of great Bros and tunnels.
- He's been in and out of rehab his whole life.
- So we spiraled in and out of this form that was created.
- And it should be switching in and out of these two states all day long.
- But now I find that I can go in and out of it whenever I want.
- My dad has been in and out of my life.
- Allows particles, virtual particles, to fluctuate in and out of existence.
- It's going in and out of your pocket, your car, your backpack.
- This is one that was in and out of my cart for years.
- Moving through the pain means moving in and out of pain.
- This asset class isn't liquid, meaning you can't just get in and out of a real estate deal quickly.
- Last week I was in my own bathroom and I was going in and out of the closet.
- So I have a ton in savings, just liquid, basically going in and out of really short term bonds.
Examples
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He's been in and out of treatment a dozen times since he was 17.
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My dad has been in and out of my life.
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Are you able to walk, get in and out of bed, get in and out of a chair?
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A lot of guys come in and out of here.
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More people come in and out of here than Grand Central Station.
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I'll be in and out of town a lot.
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People are moving more freely in and out of Mexico now.
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Now, two people are constantly moving in circles, in and out of the crowd.
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He's been in and out of the emergency room.
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My dad has been in and out of my life since I was a child.
Synonyms
To go quickly into a place and out again many times
Antonyms
How Often
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase combines the opposites 'in' and 'out' linked by 'and' with 'of' marking the place, so the idea of repeatedly or briefly entering and leaving is directly compositional from the constituent meanings. This spatial alternation pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English composition, so a B1 learner who knows the words will generally infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
In and out of paints a simple picture of someone going in and then out of a place again and again. So it means 'often entering and leaving a place, situation, or activity repeatedly or for short times'.